My Sick Mind

If there was ever a doubt as to the pre - conceived nature of that American Idol program, one need look no further than the latest Internet sensation, General Larry Platt . Somehow (we are supposed to believe) he was allowed through the audition process even though the "rules" prohibit anyone over the age of 28 from being a part of the program. Then he goes and does some ridiculous pantson the ground rant/song and it's the "latest thing." OK, I get it, you're starved for attention, and since William Hung isn't available, you'll make the most of it by promoting an old guy dancing around. That's TV. Gee, how did he ever get through he screeners ? We're so easily entertained. Big earthquake in Haiti. It's all over the news. And as a result, there are hundreds of charitable organizations who are willing to lend a hand, or so we think. Be careful where you throw your money, folks. Remember the Katrina thing in New Orleans and how a lot...

Speaking about the disaster during his program “The 700 Club” on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson said that when Haiti was still a French colony its leaders “swore a pact to the devil” to get out from “under the heel of the French.” “They said, ‘we will serve you if you will get us free from the French.’ True story. And so, the devil said, ‘OK, it’s a deal,’” Robertson claimed, as was recorded and sent around by the liberal group Media Matters. “But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other,” he continued. “That island of Hispaniola is one island. It is cut down the middle on the one side is Haiti the other is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is prosperous, healthy, full of resorts. Haiti is in desperate poverty.” First of all, I wasn't aware that "The 700 Club" was still on television. Maybe that's why Robertson saw fit to start flapping his gums over the earthquakes in Haiti? Anything to get your name in the media. I...

The Mall. I used to do a lot of wandering around in malls. Now, not so much. Mostly because I'm not 20 years old and partly because I don't have a lot of money to spend, which is most of what you do at the mall. I went on Tuesday after work because I had a gift card to spend. Of course, we never spend the gift card - we spend more than the gift card, which is why I think stores like selling them so much. They do research on junk like that. The first thing to do at the mall is find something to eat. Our local mall has a nice food court, but it wasn't that long ago that malls didn't have food courts. I think you have to be over 40 years old to remember that. Generally, they had a pretzel place or some kind of fast food joint, but now there is an entire wing of the place devoted to food - including a pretzel place and a fast food joint. I ate at the Chinese place. It's kind of noisy in the food court. That's because there is a new-fangled video music thing c...

My neighbor's hobby is researching her family tree. Last week, she did some research on my father's family, and she came up with a 1920 census report that showed that my grandfather came to America from Italy in 1896. The house they were living in was at 1109 Wolf Street in south Philadelphia. I took a little trip there today. It's the one with the green awning. Imagine 9 children (ages 18, 16, 14, 12, 8, 7, 3, 2 and 8 months - yes, they were Catholic ) and two adults living in that tiny row home. Dad was 8 months old when the census was taken, so this is the house where he lived when he was born. I don't think it looked like this in 1920. It probably looked more like the ones on the left side of the photo. My grandfather (also named Anthony) owned a barbershop, but I don't know where it was. Chances are it isn't a barbershop anymore. Two of dad's sisters were buttonhole makers (Makes buttonholes for shoes: Sets button fly of quarter against gauge of ma...